London

Devistation

Chapter 5.

  I sit in a waiting room alone. A mom and her infant sit exactly three seats away. "Are you okay?" I look up at the woman.
  "Not really." I say truthfully.
  "I'm sorry to hear that. I am here for my sisters birth." She says.
  "Congrats on the new addition." I say kindly.
  "Well why are you here?" She asks.
  "My..." I stop as the doctor comes out.
  "Amanda," I jump up before he even says her last name. "You must be here for her." He says.
  "Yes, I am." I say.
  "She has phenomena. I'm sorry." He says. At the moment I hate British accents. "We are starting treatment now. You can see her in a hour or so. I will be back soon." He says.
  "Thank you." Before I can ask questions he is back in the Staff Only area.
  "Sister? Friend?" She asks. What is with this chick. Wait, Amanda will have a lot of medical expenses. I should help her. I have a lot of money back home. I have more than enough.
  "Wife." I say back. If I say we're married I can pick up the cost. It's fine. Wait... rings. She has no ring. Nor do I. I need to put one on her so it's more believable.
  "Oh, I'm happy. But your so young. You got married?"
  "Yes we did. My 18th birthday." I say. I hear the automatic doors open. Then, Jessie and Marie walk in holding hands. They run over to me and I hug them.
  "Where is Amanda?" Jessie asks.
  "She is very sick. She has to stay here. But you can visit with me, okay?" They nod yes. I take their hands and we sit down. Soon they are asleep.

***

  The doctor comes out. "You can see her now." He smiles at me and the kids. "Room 409." He says kindly.
  "Thank you." I say. I pick up Marie and hold Jessie's hand. We turn left toward the 400-433 rooms. No one is in the hall. I kneel down and talk to both of them. "Where are the others?" I asks worried.
  "They, left." Jessie says quietly.
  "And they left you two?"
  "We left them actually. No matter how much we bond, Marie is my blood sister and I am her older brother, so I thought it would be better with you." He says.
  "Well, you made the smart decision." I say to him. "Let's go see Amanda." We enter room 409 where Amanda sits in a hospital bed.
  "Well hello." She says.
  "Well your cheeky for what had just happen." I say with a bit of a lifted heart. "Jessie and Marie wanted to say hello too."
  "Well I see. How are you two doing?" She asks acting if she didn't just pass out and sitting on a hospital bed.
  "To be honest ma'am, you are the one with the phea-nomi-ya." He struggles to pronounce her illness.
  "Phenomena." I say.
  "Yeah, that." Jessie says. "That's what I said." He shrugs and they both sit down. I pull up a chair next to Amanda and take her hand. She looks at me and smiles.
  "Thank you." She whispers to me. I smile back.
"No problem." I say back. She has machines hooked up to her and she has the hospital clothes on, I can't help but want to guard her. She looks so fragile and small, I feel like I need to stick by her. And I will.
"I hate hospital food." She says with a laugh. "Your stews are better."
"Well I try my best for you." I realize the tips of our noses are practically touching. Her eyes are gorgeous. They are enchanting. I impulsively lean foreword to kiss her she places two fingers on my lips.
"I haven't brushed my teeth in three days." She whispers. We both smile.
"I don't care." I whisper back. She smiles a little wider and gently presses her lips to mine. I smile at our moment.
I like the sound of that, our moment. Our. Us. We. Together. A small knock on the door brakes our moment. A young female nurse stands at the door looking down at her clipboard intensely with a twisted face and furrowed eyebrows.
"Sorry. Am I interrupting?" She asks. I sit down and adjust myself properly.
"No, not at all. What's up?" I asks.
"Oh, an American." She says a with a curious smile. I clear my throat for her to go on. "Right, sorry. I have an order from the doctor to, put you in a medical induced coma?" She looks up with just as much confusion and worry for Amanda.
"Wait what? Why?" I stand but Amanda seizes my hand. I calm down and run my fingers through my hair.
"What's wrong?" I look at Marie and her innocent eyes. Me and Amanda exchange a glance. Not here, not with the kids.
"Can, I mean..." I stop and think, "Is the doctor," I take a deep breath. "Where can I speak with the doctor?" I motion toward the kids. She nods.
"Maybe you would like some sweets from the shop downstairs?" The nurse asks. The kids look at me for approval.
"How about is Mum?" Jessie asks with a smile.
"Fine, you can go, but not too many. I am not spending money at the dentist." I reach for my wallet and give them each £5.
"Thanks Mum!" They say in unison as they run off with the nurse. Mum? Really?
"The doctor will be in, in a moment." She says as she walks out with the kids pulling her arms. "There adorable by the way!" She calls behind her.
"Brie?" I turn and see a tear go down her cheek. I go over and sit on the side of her bed. She leans foreword and I hold her. She's cold, but has a fever.
"I'm right here." I say, I say soothing things to her. I pull her up so we are face to face. "Look, no matter what they do, remember that I'm here. Always. Okay?"
"Okay." She says through her tears. I wipe the tears from her eyes and kiss her on the forehead.
"I'm going to talk to the doctor and see what's going on." She nods and lays back. What the hell is going on? I stand up and the doctor walks in.
"Hello again Amanda. And you are?" He looks me waiting for an answer.
"I'm Brie." We shake hands and he smiles.
"Never met an American." He smiles. What is the big deal about Americans?
"In the flesh." I say playing along. "But let's be honest, what's going on?" I ask and his face turns serious.
"She not only has a case of Phenomena but she is suffering from a genetic cell that is making her body shut down. We need to put her in a coma to slow this cell and eventually it self destructs." He says.
"So her own genes are killing her? I don't get it." I try to completely understand.
"Not killing but sickening." Amanda takes my hand and grips it tightly.
"How long would she be, in the land down under, so to speak?" I ask.
"A week or so. Some have been fine up to two days others two weeks. Luckily she was brought in pretty early. Which is great for the treatment. My maximum guess would be the full week but like four days or so should do it."
"Okay, what do we do after so it doesn't come back or anything?" Amanda asks. That's a good question.
"Well, then you would have a two week plan on Antibiotics and that should do it. I'm surprised, most get treated early in life. 2-8 is the common age. So your 20, that pretty damn lucky if you want to think of it like that. You just have to be careful with even the common cold or it could escalate like this." He says.
"Can we have a minuet?" I ask politely. I want to just say no but then where does that leave Amanda? Worse? That would be selfish. He nods and leaves the room. I turn around and face Amanda.
"I have to." She says immediately.
"Yes you do. I guess we just have to accept that." I say.
"Will you be here?" She asks.
"Of course I will." I stop and think. "But doesn't your mom have the whole if your knocked out thing, she makes the choices?"
"Yes she does. But I still want you here." Then her mother walks in at that precise moment.
"Oh goodness me. Look at you. You do know this is from your fathers side of you right? I hate to say it but I have no such gene. And you miss Brie, I thought you would have at least phoned me on the tele to alert me of her state."
"I'm sorry ma'am everything has been moving so fast, and I didn't have her phone to contact you." I say in my defense.
"Mum please don't blame her. I really don't want to have it now. They are putting me in a coma Mum. A medical induced coma." Amanda says almost coldly. Like she wasn't scarred.
"What? No, can they even do that? I don't think it's a good idea." Her mom says.
  "It our only option." I say.
  "What do you mean 'our'?" She says, her eyes narrow. "You are just the person that has cared for her kindly but you have no place in this family. I suggest you learn your place." I stop and think. Am I over stepping.
  "Mother!" Amanda says horrified. I let go of her hand. Maybe this is too much for me, we just met. "Brie..."
  "No, it's okay. I'm going to take the twins home and I have to move into my collage dorm anyway. I should get my bag there." I feel my heart ache. "I hope you feel better Amanda. Have a good day ma'am." I give Amanda a small smile goodbye. I grab my umbrella and coat and exit the room.
  "Brie!" I hear Amanda yell, but I keep going. God, what did I get myself into? No like the big guy ever answers me. I get it, I should have gone to church. Geez, hold a grudge much? A small tear trickles down my cheek as I walk. Keep going, Brie. Just keep going.
  The nurse approaches with the twins each looking happy and they hold small paper bags. "Thank you. Let's go kids." I take their hands and we quickly leave the hospital.
  "Where are we going?" Jessie asks.
  "Home." I say simply.